Life raft



April 26, 1960 R. l.. MILLER ETAI- 2933739 y April 26, 1960 R. L. MILLER ETAL 2,933,739

LIFE RAFT Filed Oct. 24. 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 RALPH L. MILLER BY CHARLES J. FORD ATTRNEY limite-State um RArr Ralph L. Miller, Randolph, Ohio, and Charles J. Ford, South Bend, Ind., assignors to The Goodyear Tire Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application October 24, 1957, Serial No. 692,077

` 17 claims. (ci. 9-11) This invention relates to inilatable life rafts and particularly to the type in which the buoyant portion'A of the raft comprises one or more endless inllatable elements surrounding the occupant receiving space, with a lloor of fabric or the like joined to the said buoyant portion inY an annular zone at or near the mid-plane of the latter, so that the raft -when inllated possesses substantially the same serviceability with either side up.

Rafts of the above mentioned type are of particular use as emergency escape craft from aircraft which may be forced down at sea as Well as for use with waterborne craft. Such a raft has the distinct advantages over a rigid hull type boat of requiring relatively small storage Y space, being light, and, therefore, easily transportable, and also vrequiring no complex launching apparatus. However, in many uses, particularly where the prospective occupants are not experienced in Water disciplines, dilliculties have been encountered in providing comfortable accommodations with maximum safety but, nonetheless, minimum boarding difficulties. The use of high freeboard rafts in order to provide safety and comfort has, in the past, resulted in problems in providing for boarding or entrance into the raft from the water. Conversely, modifications such as deflatable freeboard sections or rigid ladders to provide easier boarding have resulted in a decrease in the safety of the craft and a decrease in its hull integrity as well as making storage and use more difficult.

Ladders affect not only storage requirements but inV some constructions cause an unbalance of the raft when an attempt is made to board which may be serious enough to cause the raft to ilip over on to the boarder. Deilatable sections for boarding stations seriously weaken thel raft structure when deflated andA in a running sea permit the raft to buckle, making boarding diillcult and allowing water to enter the occupant area.

It is a major object of this inventionto provide a raft of the type described which has high freeboard for comfort and safety and at the same time provides for ease of boarding the raft.

-It is a further object of this invention to provide Fig. l1is a plan view of a raftconstructed according to.

the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a section along line 2-2 of Fig. lillustrating the arrangementof agboarding station;

Figl' is va plan ',view of Yanother type of raftY constructed according to the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of still another type of raft constructed according to the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a full section of the raft taken along the line 5,-5 of Fig. 4; and A Fig. 6 is a section of a raft illustrating a further modification of the boarding station; and y Fig. 7 is a partial section of still another design according to the present invention.

Referring to the figures, the buoyancy elements of the raft comprise annular inflation chambers 1 and, 2 having a horizontal deck 3 of fabric or the like extending along the mid-plane between them. The inflation chambers are conventionally inflated by two compressed gas cylinders 4, each rail or chamber having its own ination bottle. The raft may have theusual equalizer tubes between the chambers to assure equal inflation pressure therein, if so desired. Thera'ft has aV center stowage locker 5 having a mast mount 6 substantially centrally thereof. The area 5 is used to stow protective curtains etc., which when rigged with a mast adapted to fit the mountl 6 may be suitably arranged at the peripheral edges of the upper buoyancy chamber to provide shelter for the occupants. Other conventional aids, such as heaving lines, bailing buckets, etc. are suitably arranged'so as to be accessible I to the occupants.

In Fig. l, the'raft comprises two buoyancy sections 1l tion locations 7. As can be seen in Fig. l, the stations arev in opposite pairs which are inverted with respect to the adjacent stations so that regardless of which side of the raft is up when it is launched, two boarding points at opposite sides of the raft are available to prospective occupants for entry onto the raft. The arrangement of and the odset relationship between the lbuoyant sections l and 2 can be more clearly seen inFig. 2. As an aid to entry, a small inflatable step section 8 is provided substantially at the waterline of the lower main buoyance section 2. A similar step member is provided at the adja- `cent boarding station, being, of course, inverted with respect to the other in order to provide a step when the raft is other side up. Further boarding aids such as the hand grips 9 are provided at each station.

It can be seen that the oiset'relationship of the buoy-n ant sections provides a convenient, accessible boarding point while maintaining the essential high freeboard'lof the raft and without increasing the storage sp'ace of the deated raftto any substantial degree. Further, the offset relationship does not affect the structural integrity rof the raft as do separatelydeatable and-inllatable boarda raft.

In Fig. 3 is shown a raft in which the offset relationship of the buoyant sections at the boarding station- Ipo-. is, provided by constructing. vthe'buoyant sections in`an`un ,4 symmetrical shape having at least one inset section such as at 11. Thus in smaller rafts, and those having regular polygonal shapes, where rotation of the buoyantu sections with respect to each other would not provide adequate olset for boarding, a simple yetV ellicients'tation can nonetheless be provided. The raft in Fig. 3 has a deck 'Patentes Apr. 26, lesoV The sections 1 and 2, Vwhile symmetrical withf larly shapedbuoyantV sections 16 .andi 1 7, isjprovided with boarding stations `by translating onegsetionfwith respect to the otherrather. than rotating'rltiiem Voir, building an insetinto the sections; Y

`The relationship of the sections may be more clearly seen in Fig. 5. Boarding stations 1`8,invertedwith respectto each other, are provided'by the translatoryV movement of section 16 with respect to sectionwl7r. 'l`hesta-VV tions may, of course, be provided withv the stepV section 19 and handgrips 20 as previously described,AV The central stowage area 21 is provided with mast moorings 22l and23, which are offset with respect; to eachother in, orderl to center the mast'Y no mattergjwhichside of the raft is up. The stowage area isconstructed with a.hol

low tube 24 surrounding the area and'inflata'ble by means.

of valves 25. The valves may be disposed on the left and right' as shown or in some cases itvmayrbe desirable to place them one over the other at opposite surfaces of j the tube. A rubberized fabric deck 25' spansV the area encircled by the tube to retain the watertight' integrity ofV the-stowage space.

Fig. 6 illustrates a modification of a boarding station in which the inatable step section is replaced by a rung 27 suspended belowV the waterline and attached tothe buoyant'section 28 by -straps or hangers 29. The usual hand grips 30 may be provided as desired.

It is clear that an offset type boarding station may be provided in any multi-section raft by the means described. That is, in rafts of elongated sections, the sections may be rotated with respect to each other through the desired arc. In rafts having regular polygonal or circular sections they may be constructed with an inset portion as described with respect to Fig. 3 or the sections may be linearly displaced with respect to each other as described with respect to Figs. 4 and 5. Various types of step sections, boarding rungs and hand grips may, of

course, be provided as necessary or desired. An example of a boarding station in a raft having a larger number of sections is illustrated in Fig. 7. The raftV comprises a plurality of sections 51, 32, and 33 having some of the sections displaced with respect to others to provide a boarding station, as for example sections 31 and 33'which are mutually displaced with respect to section 32 and each other. Of course, a suitable step member 34 and boarding straps 35 may be provided in a manner similar to the other embodiments illustrated.

While certain representative embodiments and details have been shown for the purpose of illustrating the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in this art that various changes and modifications may bernade therein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A raft comprising an endless buoyant sidewall structurey defining a closed area andY including a plurality of endless buoyant sections in superimposed relationship with at leasta part-ofat' least one of said buoyant sections disposed ink horizontally displaced relationship with respect to another of said sections to form at least one.

boarding station for thesaidiraft, and a deck spanning said closed area and being attached to said sidewallstructure substantially along the midplane horizontally thereof.

2. A raft as claimed in claiml in which said boarding station isprovided with a stepwmember substantially atr essere@ 4` Y imposed relationship, with some of said sections being disposed in horizontally displaced relationship at least in part with respect to others to form at least one board` ing station for the said raft, and a deck spanning said closed area and being attached to said sidewall structure substantially along the midplane horizontally thereof.

4. A raft as claimed in claim 3 in which said boarding station is provided with a'v step member substantially at or below the waterline of the buoyant section in the water.

5. A raft comprising an endless buoyant sidewall structure defining, al closed area, said sidewall structure in-A through an arc with respect to eachother to provide thesaid displacement.

7. A raft as claimed in claim 5 in which said sectionsare horizontally translated with respect to each other to provide the said displacement.

8. A raft as claimed in claim 5 in which said boarding station is provided with a step member substantially at or below the waterline of the section in the water.

9. Araft comprising an endless buoyant sidewallstructure defining a closed area, said sidewall structure includ-.

ing two buoyantsections in superimposed relation, each of said sections'dening an elongated polygon whose envelope substantially defines an ellipse and said sections disposedV in horizontally displaced relationship with respect to each other to form at least one boarding station for said raft regardless of which section is in the water, and a deck spanning said closed area and being attached to.

said sidewall structure substantially along the horizontal midplane thereof.

l0. A raft as claimedin claim 9 in which said sections are rotated through a horizontal arc with respect to each other to provide the said displacement.

11. A raft as claimed in claim 9 in which said sections are horizontally translated with respect to each other to provide the said displacement.

12. A raft as claimed in claim l0 in which the said` boarding station is providedwith astep member substantially at or below the waterline of the section in the water.

13. A raft as claimed in claim 1l in which the said boarding station is provided with a step member substantially at or below the waterline of the section in the water.

14. A raft comprising an endless buoyant sidewall structure dening a closed area, said sidewall structure includingV two congruent buoyant sections in superimposedrelation, eaeh'of'said sections dening a polygon whose envelope curve substantially defines an ellipse with said sections disposed in a rotationally displaced relationship of substantially degree arc in the horizontal plane with respect to each other to form at least one boarding stationforsaid raft regardless of which section is in the water, and a deck spanning saidclosedareav and beingattached to said sidewallstructure substantially at the horizontal mid plane thereof.

15. A raft as claimed in claim 14 in which the saidY boarding station is provided with a step` memberl substan tially at or below the waterline of thesection in the-water.

16. A raft comprising an endless buoyant sidewall structure defining a closedvarea and includinga plurality of endless buoyant sections in superimposed relationship with at least a part of atleast one of'said buo'yantsections disposed in horizontally displaced. relationship with respectto another-ofsaid sections so that a portion of a buoyant section adjacent the waterline extends outwardly.`

from a portion ofanv adjacent superimposed section to form at least one boarding station for the said raft, and a deck spanning said closed area and being attached to saidof a buoyant section adjacent the waterline extends out- 10 2,421,679

Wardly from an adjacent superimposed section to form at least one boarding station for said raft regardless of ,whichrsection'is in the water, and a deck spanning said closed area and being attached to said sidewall structure 5 Substantially along a plane horizontally thereof.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Bingham` T June 3, 1947 

